Le Terroir | New Belgium Brewing

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Pours a hazy orange color with a 1 inch off-white head that fades to a small cap. Little patches of lace around the glass on the drink down. Smells of spicy hops, apricot/peach, mango, and slight funk/must. Taste is of fermented peach/mango, vinegar, funk/must, with the spicy hop flavors coming through on the finish. There is a sour and spicy feel on the palate after each sip. Good carbonation makes for a crisp and clean mouthfeel. A bit sticky in the mouth. Overall, this is a really awesome wild ale and one of the best Lips Of Faith beers. I only bought one because I wasn't too sure how a dry-hopped wild would pan out but I am going to stock up on these for sure.

this didn't quite live up to the hype for me. a cool sour, highly prized, and finally scored. it pours a clearish orangey resin color with a good inch or so of just off white foam. the nose on it s quite sweet, and this beer is in fact a sweet and sour package. starts sweet in both taste and nose. mango and peach are obvious, possibly from the hops, possibly from something else. the sour part is the second half, lactic and puckery, but not as intense as it might be. its a good late summer palate, and a much more mild type of sour than I was expecting, and certainly when compared to la folie. bright fruit and sour go well together, but I found this a touch too sweet. it hurt my teeth and left my mouth feeling strange, like eating too many sour patch kids. dry as dry champagne too. the carbonation is nice though, and the body is right on medium. I am glad I had some friends to share this with, a whole bomber would have been too much.

Nose is an assertive and unique fruity pine. There is a light sour orange/sour tangerine character in the nose.

Mouthfeel is bright and medium sour with a wonderful acidic and sour quality. Very drinkable and inviting.

Flavors on this one really rock. Assertive lightly sour and acidic tangerine, sour apricot and oranges. Loads of citrus flavors with a very consumer friendly sour character.

This is a very well made beer; a really nice sour right now and one that should be tried fresh and enjoyed before we all jump to age it. It will likely age well but perhaps lose some of that wonderful tangerine/orange/apricot fruit character. One of my favorites of the Lips of Faith Series. I really like this one.

This poured out as a slightly hazy copper orange color with a soapy white head. Very scattered lacing and thin retention. The smell of the beer is earthy, slightly tart, some cherry notes and oak. The taste of the beer is very tart, far more sour than all the other "sour" ales that New Belgium makes. There is more cherry in the flavor with some vinegar. The mouthfeel is pretty good, drinkable and light bodied nice carbonation. Overall this beer is good, the hops have faded but the sour notes are what seem to me as their peak. Really nice beer.

A: The beer is slightly hazy yellowish orange in color and does not have any visible carbonation. It poured with a thin layer of bubbles on the surface that quickly faded away.
S: There are light to moderate aromas of sourness in the nose.
T: Like the smell, the overall taste is quite sour and has some hints of citrus from the hops.
M: It feels medium-bodied and somewhat tart on the palate with a light to moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The beer is quite easy to drink for the style because it’s not too sour.

1L howler from Sherbrooke Liquor. 2014 version of Le Terroir, and since that sample from their growler bar tasted so good earlier today, time to get 'er done!

This beer pours a slightly hazy, medium golden amber hue, with three fingers of puffy, rather loosely foamy, and certainly bubbly ecru head, which leaves some awkward coral reef lace around the glass as it slowly ebbs away.

The carbonation is pretty plain and merely supportive, like it knows the correct side of the buttered bread, the body a solid medium weight for the style, and way more smooth than one unnamed reviewer might have been expecting - wow. It finishes a bit on the sweet side, the tart and acidic character still kickin' about, for sure, but with all the fruitiness and the underappreciated - I'm sure - malt counting this one in the win column.

One tasty, and ultimately approachable wild ale, the yeast and beasties having learned a whole lot of manners and decorum, apparently, or maybe it's just the huge fruit notes (origins duly muddled) that gloss and smooth everything over. Whatever, this is a pleasure to drink, especially given the thoroughly integrated 15-proof booze. Hello mueder, hello foeder!

Enjoyed at The Festival of Barrel Aged Beer in Chicago. Listed as a Flanders Red, it was described as, " Belgian amber ale aged in wine barrels w/ resident bacteria, then dry-hopped with Amarillo hops." If it sounds good, you can imagine how it tasted. The color is a rust - peach color with a haze. Good head retention that settled to a film over the alcohol and barrel aging. Aromas are of sour cherries, cider, a tart merlot, molassas, musky and complex. The flavors reaffirm the aromas. Throw in a touch of cocoa, raspberries, cranberries, nutty, and woody. Aged for richness and boldness keeps the beer from becoming overly sour or tart. Never astringent or off-putting. The texture is shy of creamy. Thinning from alcohol, low carbonation, and tartness. Lighty vineous in the bitter finish. The amerillo hops really help balance the sweet.

Served cold - straight from me fridge - and allowed to warm over the course of consumption. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: No bubble show forms as I pour.

Pours a one finger wide head of white colour. Decent thickness. Okay creaminess. No real frothiness. I can get some lacing on the sides of the glass when I tilt it, but none sticks. Head retention is average - ~2 minutes.

Body colour is a clear translucent copper-orange. Quasitransparent; you can't read text through it but a close finger is visible. Nice glowing vibrance. It's got a warm hue.

Overall, it's within style conventions, and while not unique or special, is quite appealing. There are no obvious flaws here. Looking forward to trying it

Sm: Has a nice lactic sourness; I only find lactobacillus - no lambic yeast. Hints of controlled bacteria are evident; it's a better sourness than you'd find in most American sours, but it still has the clinical clean feel that betrays an absence of true spontaneous fermentation, so it doesn't quite compete with the good Belgian sours. Maybe some brettanomyces, but any funkiness is hardly present. I also pick up some gose-like saltiness. Vinegar. Straw, clean barley, pilsner malts, grassiness, tart lychee. Sour apple - especially as it warms. Pear. It's a bit saison-esque in its build (if you'll forgive the pretension inherent in that phrasing). I do get some light citrusy touches along with some floral notes - no doubt the dry-hopping coming to play; it's a nice effect. Hints of oak. A bit cidery. Musky.

T: Has a lovely streak of lactobacillus-induced lactic sourness along with more subtle hints of a controlled bacterial sourness. A bit of brettanomyces funk, I guess - but lacto is the dominant yeast. Some lemon peel, pear, sour orchard apple, salt, and pilsner malts. Lychee. Sour/mandarin oranges. Hints of citrusy zest and floral notes are imparted by the timid hops. Some lime surfaces as it warms. The oak/barrel notes are subtle, perhaps even reticent.

Luckily, I'm not finding the tropical fruit notes that other reviewers have noted; I'm very happy there's no pineapple here. It's not puckerworthy, per se, but it's got a good sourness to it. Lightly tart; I could use a bit more tartness. Some acetic notes would do it well as well. A bit of crystal malt.

Sweetness/sourness/bitterness balance is superb.

No alcohol comes through.

The dry-hopping works well here, but I think mostly because it's so timid. The hops complement but don't distract - sourness is still the star here.

It's a well balanced sour ale with plenty of complexity and subtlety. It's quite cohesive, and even flirts with a gestalt build but never quite gets there. The blending is well executed; it doesn't feel too young nor too old. Good depth, duration, and intensity of flavour.

As it warms, some peach and apricot appear.

Mf: Crisp, lightly spritzy, nicely carbonated (if overly so), and refreshing. Has a good smoothness/coarseness balance, with enough coarseness to accentuate the many flavours but enough smoothness to maintain its light presence on the palate. Wet. Very approachable and pleasant. Fairly acidic. Complements the flavour profile quite well. Excellent thickness and body; brewed to style. A bit sticky.

Not oily, harsh, astringent, hot, harsh, boozy, or syrupy.

Dr: A highly drinkable sour ale that masks its ABV impressively well. I'm really glad I got the chance to try it, but it isn't clearly superior to La Folie as some have asserted. It's very fairly priced for the quality and may be one of the best American sours, but I can't say it's in the league of superior Belgian sours.

I'll have no trouble murdering this whole bottle myself, and I'm glad I was greedy with this one. I'll definitely snatch up any bottles I see in the future, but in all honesty I may prefer La Folie, and I do think that this beer's limited availability combined with nostalgia during periods in which it's unavailable is driving up the ratings.

Absolutely worth trying, and undoubtedly great, but not mind-blowing. I'd recommend this to friends and trade partners. It certainly deserves to be in the top 250, and I think that says it all. I'd be very curious to try this aged, or to try a different batch. I sure wish I had a few more bottles for my own stash.

Extremely happy to finally see this bottled, it's been about 3 years since first trying it at a fest then waiting for this day.

Hazy saturated orange body, effervescent carbonation rises from below. The offwhite eggshelll foam has a creamy texture, and laces in delicate patterns against the glass.

Aroma is very fruit dominated, and not by any single one. Peach, lemon, passionfruit, lime, mango... it's an intoxicating tropical melange. Some contrasting oak and fresh yogurt notes are there too, lending some harmonizing 'wild' elements without getting too funky.

Flavor is moderately puckering, tart and verging on lemony sour. Some very light orange wafer cookie malt sweetness is there around the edges to contrast, with dry tannic bitterness in the finish. Carbonation is light, yet scrubs the palate clean. Hop elements are present though indistinct in the mix, lending some possible leafy orange tea notes, and residual bitterness. Dry hopping lends to the aroma only though, not the taste.

Le Terroir is a unique Wild Ale, fruit-forward and quenching, only moderately tart. Should appeal to a wide audience without losing any street cred.

2015: Much more 1-dimensional and acetic than past versions that were bursting with tropical dry-hop qualities. Sad that the price has gone up too, it used to be a real favorite.

Appearance: Pours a slightly hazy golden color; the head is not too much to write home about but it stll leaves a fair bit of lacing

Smell: Tart tangerine, with a floral range of tropical fruit (pineapple, grapefruit and mango); underneath, there is a distinct sourness as well as a hint of oak

Taste: Tart citrus from the outset, with the tangerine and tropical fruit flavors adding a sweet balance underneath; by mid-palate, the sour elements take over and dominate after the swallow; still, there is a lingering sweetness underneath as well as some vanilla from the oak, both of which add intriguing balance

Bottle: Poured a clear light amber color ale with a nice large foamy head with good retention and some great lacing. Aroma of fruity notes of peaches and mango with light tart undertones is quite unique. Taste is quite unique with subtle fruity notes of mango and peaches with very nice fruity ester with some well balanced tart notes. Body is about average with good carbonation. It is a wonder the aroma that was created using hops; this is definitely a beer I will seek again.